Common Americans are no longer considered worth protecting as part of
national security.
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Mr. Carboni,
Thank you for providing the information below. We have
conducted an initial search within the organization that is most
likely to hold records. That organization advised that the
request, as worded, is overly broad. Querying any of our
organizations would likely result in the same response. The
phrase “malware transmitted through USB firmware” is overly
broad, such that any of our internal organizations would not be
able to determine which files to search or be able to conduct a
search with a reasonable amount of effort. Terms such as
“malware” or “firmware” may turn up in any number of NSA records
and most likely would not be related to securing home networks.
Furthermore, added search without a clarification of context and
specific records sought, would incur significant fees which
would be passed on to you as an “all other” requester.
A large facet of the NSA/CSS mission is to protect National Security
(i.e. government, DoD, Industry partners) information systems. In
doing so, this Agency provides guidance on Information Assurance
security solutions to our Industry and Government customers regarding
risk, vulnerabilities, mitigations, and threats. While it is not part
of our mission to provide guidance on securing home networks, we may
occasionally post information on our website as you may recall from
our letter. Our Information Assurance Directorate (IAD) has provided
some information to the public that may be of interest to you. Here
are some additional links that you may peruse:
https://www.nsa.gov/ia/mitigation_guidance/index.shtml
https://www.nsa.gov/public_info/press_room/2014/nsa_seal_scam_alert.shtml
(this is a recent article the does provides a link regarding malware)
https://www.nsa.gov/ia/index.shtml The last paragraph provides a
video link under “IAD's Latest Security Guide Helps Customers
Protect Home Networks,” and there is also a fact sheet titled
“Best Practices for Keeping Your Home Network Secure.”
Since the information you appear to be requesting (protecting
home networks) does not fall under the purview of NSA/CSS
missions, continued search of our files would not be
productive. Your request will be administratively closed as an
improper FOIA. If, after reviewing the information on our
website, you wish to submit a FOIA request on similar topic(s),
please provide enough detail to allow for an accurate and
focused search.
Regards,
Cindy B
NSA/CSS FOIA Requester Service Center
(301)688-6527 <tel:%28301%29688-6527>
